Pollution refers to the addition of impurities and contaminants especially substances to the environment (land, air and water) leaving it filthy and degraded.
But degradation is not pollution, degradation is to diminish in value and is a result of pollution and pollution leads to degradation-they work hand in hand.
For example, when industrial gases pollutes air, the air quality is distorted and diminished or when waste is dumped in water bodies (polluted), the water quality is then degraded. But the term degradation is often emphasised in context of land; land degradation.
Pollution can also take noise, vision and light. Various factors can lead to pollution such as industrial gases which pollutes the air, pesticides which pollutes land and dumping in water bodies. Some causes of pollution not only affect one aspect of the environment but many.
For example industrial gases can contaminate air leading to acid rain which in turn falls and pollutes land and or water bodies. Some gases can fall to the ground (land or water) directly from factories as dry deposit.
Most of the causes of pollution are attributed to human activities with natural phenomenons contributing less than the former. Countries along the Middle East and Asia particularly China, India, Egypt, Pakistan and many others have high pollution rates. Pollution has significantly risen over the past years since the industrial revolution particularly due to the advancement in technology. The effects of pollution and pollution itself are best described when looking at the main types of pollution, i.e land, air, water (LAW)
